Do you have a rooted Android phone? Then Netflix is no longer for you

Are you worried because your rooted Android phone seems not to download Netflix app from Google Play Store? Do not fret! It is a general issue. Netflix made it clear that its app is no more for users with non Google-certified devices or altered devices.

A spokesperson informed android police that this strategy was implemented because of a shift in copy protection. In a bid to prevent piracy, the Version 5.0 of the Netflix app depends completely on Google’s Widevine digital rights. As such, those altered devices will be seen and treated as incompatible.
There is a motive for this shift in approach; piracy has become a widespread issue, and it’s detrimental now that you can download shows. It is somewhat harder to rip a stream than to unveil the copy protection from the installed copy of a Netflix series. Rooting a device makes you have a higher control of the Operating System, as such; it becomes easier to circumvent the DRM than it would have been ordinarily.

While Netflix basks in their restriction of modified Android phones from downloading their app, Android Police ascertain that Netflix app still runs very well if you can install the app, perhaps by sideloading the APK at the moment. Likewise, the Google Play listing is all about your ability to run Android Play and not mainly Widevine. Here’s it, if your device has an unblocked bootloader, you may experience difficulty or access denial to Netflix even if your firmware is untampered.

Bottom line

The step forward by Netflix towards curbing piracy may not haunt desperate fans, but it emphasizes the position Netflix and other media service providers see themselves in. The obvious is that some people who tamper and modify their phones just do that because of their need for customization. Now, most of them will have to choose to keep their root access and watch things as they unfold.